Joe Rogan has been the centerpiece of discussion down in the swamps of Twitter feeds and through the caverns of Instagram stories. Many of us are seeing a pattern in how these cancellations unfold and this feels similar to the cancellation of Dr. Seuss last year, only ratcheted up a few notches. Perhaps that’s because Joe is alive and able to engage with the backlash. Perhaps it’s a symbol of the merciless nature of cancel culture as it kicks into high gear, every cylinder pumping to its peak production powered by hurt feelings and oversensitivity.
I’m sure most of you recall the cancellation of a few Dr. Seuss books. I’m also sure you have been informed that he was someone who harbored racial biases which may have altered your perspective of him as a person. This is the same tactic levied against Joe.
Allow me to alter your perspective once more.
To be clear, it’s important to note that there was certainly some racist imagery and messaging in Dr. Seuss’s early work that I will not argue against. It is apparent that during the pre-war years he held racial biases against the Japanese people, as depicted in his political cartoons.
Now, let’s pause and place ourselves in his shoes. It’s the late 1930’s, tensions are high between Japan and the United States. The US government showed many signs of support for Hitler’s Germany in the years leading up to war; support which obviously changed course soon after. The government quite literally built camps for Japanese Americans to be placed in, and the American people had a genuine fear of spies existing among them.
As we look back on this time period, it’s easy for us to scoff and say it was abhorrent behavior, which it was, but at the time it had support across the country. Animosity, fear, hatred, and contempt were felt toward the Japanese by millions of American people. Dr. Seuss was one of millions.
Here’s where the little known fact about Dr. Seuss comes in. He decided to visit Japan in 1953 to challenge his own perceptions and biases. He visited Hiroshima, where the U.S. military dropped an atomic bomb killing about 70,000 human beings in August of 1945.
His experience in Japan caused him to turn inward and challenge his own way of thinking. So much so, he published Horton Hears a Who one year later. Do you remember the famous quote from that book?
“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”
History’s slate is not meant to be wiped away, it’s meant to be studied.
It’s remarkably perplexing to see a movement endeavor to wipe out the work of Dr. Seuss from history, as he embodied what it means to be wise. He sought out perspectives that challenged his worldview. He admitted his wrongdoings when new perspectives changed his outlook. He then took it a step further and not only lived it, but translated that lesson into a story that captured the attention of millions around the world in hopes they wouldn’t make the same mistake.
Sound familiar?
Instead of acknowledging the past as what it was, there is an attempt to change it by wiping Rogan from his platform. This is astonishing if you’ve ever sat down and listened to his podcast. The essence of his show is engaging in conversation that flows naturally, meaning unexpected turns occur just as they would in everyday life. It’s evident that Joe makes an honest effort to engage with curiosity every time he sits at the mic.
This assault we are seeing on Joe presents a sweeping fallacy we all take part in. There’s something to be said for organically recalling events drawn from memory, as opposed to absorbing video or audio and placing it in present day context. When you recall a memory, you’re also more adept at recalling the circumstances surrounding the event, encompassing it in empathy and nuance. In other words, it’s wrapped inside the context, instead of framing it in the wrong time and place.
Hearing an old recording can cause you to dismiss the passage of time between then and now, which robs the moment of its nuance. This doesn’t mean we must simply give a pass to all that has been done or said, but it must be accounted for and given some level of understanding.
The essential takeaway is that when something is happening around you, you’re not simply encoding a memory like a camera lens. A multitude of sensations, from sweeping emotions to the temperature felt on your skin, are encoded alongside the social climate at the time. With this in mind, it’s impossible to pull up a video from 10+ years ago you have never seen before and simultaneously compile the context at the time the event unfolded. It’s a complete fallacy to apply a joke made over a decade ago to the present social climate.
Who are we to judge?
Shouldn't we all strive to challenge our perspectives and be allowed to make mistakes in order to grow? How could you formulate an argument that says this is bad? Are we all to be scorned for every mistake we make in our lives without any hope for redemption?
Do you think your name is safe from being sullied if it’s now deemed appropriate to wipe away and cancel the likes of Joe Rogan and Dr. Seuss?
I don’t know what kind of delusion one must slide into to believe that we, tiny specks of dust, can pass judgment upon other specks of dust and decide our current emotional state is more important than their entire existence. Attempting to alter the past because it does not suit your current way of seeing the world ensures that you will never grow.
Stay humble, fellow dust specks. Engage in nuance and challenge yourself to slow down and think from another perspective.